Cast No Shadow, Peter Sharp [books to get back into reading txt] 📗

killed by his hand. He felt no pleasure, but neither did he feel sadness. It was happenstance, something that had to be done.

Quickly he implemented the rest of the plan. He stripped the jacket and cap from the now dead soldier and rolled the body to the edge of the road. With a push he sent it rolling down the bank, watching it gathering speed as it went.

Kelly then tried to dress in the grey jacket. It was hopelessly too small for him, but he forced himself into it. He would have to leave it unbuttoned. Fortunately, the corporal had a rather large head in proportion to his body and once Kelly had cleaned the inside of the cap with snow and rags from the vehicle, he found it to be a near perfect fit.

His uniform would certainly not stand up to close scrutiny, but he might get away with it from a distance.

Kelly climbed into the driver’s seat, turned the key in the dashboard and searched for the starter button. After pressing everything within reach he discovered the starter operated on a pull cable. Once turning, he crashed the gearbox into first, gunned the engine and accelerated through the gears to as near to top speed as he dared on the icy road. The vehicle was equipped with chains, but still it slithered and slid as he cornered.

In the gloom, the headlights of an approaching vehicle appeared to grow bigger and brighter all the time. He slowed slightly so as not to appear too conspicuous and waved to the other driver as the vehicles passed.

There was a screech of brakes and Kelly, in his rear-view mirrors, saw the other vehicle slither to a halt. Just before he lost sight of it, as he negotiated a bend in the road, he saw the other vehicle executing a turn.

He had no idea how far the border was, or indeed if this road did in fact go to the border. Undoubtedly, he was headed in the right direction, but that was all the certainty he had. He dared not increase his speed in case he lost control of the vehicle.

He was now on a straight stretch of road and to his horror he could see the headlights of the other vehicle in his mirrors. It was clear that it was gaining on him. The driver was probably more experienced on these roads and with this particular truck.

Then Kelly saw another headlight appear, passing the truck behind him, a single headlight. After a few seconds he was able to make out the shape. He bit into his lip as he saw the unmistakable shape of a motorcycle combination with a sidecar-mounted Spandau. There was no way his Mercedes would outrun the DKW combination.

A burst of machine gun fire sent a hail of rounds over the top of the vehicle. Kelly started to weave the vehicle, but this just had the effect of slowing him down to the extent that the other truck started gaining on him, as well as the combination.

He was now travelling along a fairly straight road flanked by forest on either side. Every three or four hundred yards there was a fire break in the trees. He had no idea what the going would be like, but what choice did he have? He was determined to take a chance.

At the next break he swung the vehicle violently to the right, it coincided exactly with the moment that the motorcycle combination was trying to overtake on Kelly’s blind side. There was a sickening crash and Kelly’s vehicle lurched violently, bucking high into the air and threatening to go over as the rear wheel crushed the combination beneath. Kelly struggled to maintain control, hitting several trees a glancing blow before regaining control of the vehicle once more.

The combination was certainly disabled, and the pursuing truck appeared to have overshot the gap. Kelly had bought some time, but it was being wasted by the failure of his vehicle to respond to the accelerator. A glance out of the right-hand mirror showed the right-hand rear wheel seriously oscillating. The collision with the motorcycle combination must have sheared the spring mounting and now there were lights behind him again!

There was no option now but to go the rest of the way on foot. Kelly slewed the vehicle to a halt diagonally across the track in order to block it and prevent the other vehicle pursuing, then burst out of the door and took to the trees. As he ran, he could hear the sound of the German infantrymen now disembarking from their own truck, crashing through the forest in pursuit. Machine gun fire rang out, intermingled with single shots and he clearly heard the zing and hiss of high velocity rounds all around him, along with the occasional ‘thuck!’ as one embedded itself in a nearby tree.

They had his direction and it was impossible to move quietly in the forest. Kelly knew he would have to make a stand and fight it out. Stripping off the German jacket and cap he threw them to the side, then crouched down behind one of the thicker trees. Peering round the right-hand side of the tree, he levelled the Luger and fired in the direction of the machine gun flashes. He fired a few times then stopped. The Germans were inching closer all the time and a single Luger wasn’t going to stop them. He would be better to save one round for himself. If the Germans took him, the outcome would be inevitable. He had killed two of their number and he was dressed in civilian clothing. Worse, he had at one stage worn a German uniform. They would reach the logical conclusion.

For a moment Kelly fancied that the firing had increased significantly, until he realised that the shooting was coming from behind him as well.

How had he been surrounded?

But, no! Something was wrong. The firing to his front seemed to be receding. He